We're just going to have to get used to being constantly impressed at what Unreal Engine 5 can do. The newest game development engine from Epic Games has wowed us since its original demonstration last year, and with the release of the beta, game devs have been putting its tech to good use.
The Dark Side of Gaming spotted a project created by Melhem Sfeir which is jaw-droppingly gorgeous and incredibly realistic. This is the sort of demo that stops us in our tracks and gives us an idea of what the whole of the gaming industry is slowly moving towards with every year of development.
Here is the official trailer for Unreal Engine 5's early access...
The tech demo is made, of course, in Unreal Engine 5 and it utilises two features that developers are excited to get their hands on. Nanite and Lumen are the names of two systems in UE5 that will help devs both populate areas with realistic-looking objects and then light them correctly. Nanite is a "new internal mesh format and rendering technology to render pixel scale detail and high object counts"; while Lumens is a "fully dynamic global illumination and reflections system that is designed for next-generation consoles".
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The video that Sfeir released makes the environments look amazing. He demonstrates the wooded area at different times of the day, focusing on aspects like water effects, lighting, and realistic movement by leaves as if the wind is rippling through them. No doubt it's very impressive. And as this is just a demo without the full capabilities of UE5, we can't wait for its eventual full release.
If you're interested in the further capabilities of Unreal Engine 5, it can render 3 million separate crabs if it likes. And though the project might not be to your taste, I Am Jesus Christ, a religious game following the life of Jesus, looks strangely impressive in the engine as well. UE 5 is set to fully release in 2022 and we look forward to seeing the new ideas developers come up with.Featured Image Credit: Epic Games / Melhem Sfeir
Topics: epic games, Unreal Engine 5, News